


The Sound of Sleeping Planets

by rcf_writes



Category: Original Work
Genre: Anxiety, Dystopian, F/M, Forbidden Love, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcf_writes/pseuds/rcf_writes
Summary: "Fairy tales don't tell children that dragons exist. They already know dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be slain" - G.K. ChestertonI wrote this short story as an assignment for my English class and was encouraged to post it.  The story may be confusing at first because it is written as a frame narrative, but please be patient with me. This is my first complete story, so I understand there may be errors. I welcome constructive criticism, but please be polite because I have the confidence of a chicken nugget.TRIGGER WARNINGThere are deaths in this short story, but I did my best to write them as delicately as possible. If suicidal themes are potentially triggering, this may not be the story for you....
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	1. Marlowe

Marlowe let her eyes scan over the blueprints one last time before sneaking into the Reserve. If she was going to make it to her parents' file, she needed to be able to find her way through the building without stopping to pull out a cumbrous map. 

Marlowe folded and tucked the pages back into her coat pocket, and made her way towards the front of the government building. When she reached the doors, she thanked the stars for her short stature that allowed her to duck under a worker that was exiting the building. There was no alternative entrance because she didn't have access to a key card and she definitely wasn't qualified to simply walk right in without raising suspicion. 

When she made it inside, she scanned the crowd of workers dressed in white coats similar to her own. Albeit, her coat almost swallowed her small frame because its previous owner had been quite tall. She took a deep breath and confirmed that no one had noticed her intrusion, and started towards the file room. 

She weaved through the hallways and corridors, stopping every few minutes to make sure she wasn't being followed. Finally, she reached the locked vault that held her parents' story. Marlowe felt that all of the moments in her life led up to this one. All the bedtime stories she found stashed around the abandoned park that told her of worlds unlike her own had brought her here. They spoke of fantasy worlds where children grew up exploring their planet instead of being assigned a factory to endure. 

She looked up to find her reflection staring back at her in the vault's steel door. The black ink surrounding her throat felt more like a collar than ever before—branding her as a part of the Occupation. Now, though, the tattoo's only purpose was serving as a reminder of what Marlowe's life would have been if it weren't for her parent's actions. 

Squaring her shoulders, she shook off the unwanted thoughts and pressed the necessary numbers on the keypad. She could hear the gears within the door's frame begin to push and pull against one another until finally, it fell open with a click. 

Marlowe took a deep breath and quickly rushed into the room, firmly shutting the door behind her.


	2. Stella and Knox

They met in the park one day after Academy. Stella had only been skipping her doses for a few days, but when she witnessed a boy feeding the ducks from the pond, she felt a curiosity that she hadn't explored yet.

As she made her way over to him, the boy tensed and stopped throwing his lunch to the ducks. "Good evening, Miss," he spoke politely, yet stared blankly towards the pond. He started to fiddle with his last slice of bread, crumbling the pieces onto the ground. Pigeons flew towards his feet to clean up his mess.

"Good evening, sir," Stella replied, sitting a little too close to the boy on the bench. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Stella," she introduced. 

The boy simply stared at her outstretched hand, and Stella began to panic. Was she doing this correctly? Sure, the men in her story books usually initiated the first meeting, but she couldn't find a reason for a woman not to try. 

She cleared her throat and pulled her hand back into her lap. She looked out to the water in an attempt to see what enamoured the boy, but was left struggling to come up with an answer. However, when she looked to the boy to ask, she noticed how his cheeks were stained with tears. She started to ask what was making him so upset, but his pleading froze her thoughts. 

"Please don't call an officer," he begged her, "I only missed a couple of doses". A few seconds passed before he seemed to come up with another excuse. "They were accidents," he explained, "I promise". More tears seemed to pour across his freckles, highlighting where they dotted his face like stars across the night sky. 

"Hey, it's alright," Stella assured. She grabbed his hand and looked up to see tears still in his eyes. In doing so, Stella noticed how bright and blue his eyes had become due to the overwhelming feelings. She smiled up at him slightly, trying to reaffirm him.

"I've skipped my doses before. Isn't it lovely?" she asked, turning to admire the tulips that had just been planted by the gardeners. This seemed to snap the boy out of his trance. He cleared his throat, dropped her hand, and started to collect his belongings. 

"I didn't skip them. They were accidents. It won't happen again." He spoke the words to Stella, but he seemed to be trying to convince himself more than her. Stella was slightly confused to see the tall boy experience such strong feelings. Her story books always portrayed the men as very stoic and controlled. 

"Please, stay," she pleaded and tilted her head, "there's no reason to experience feelings if you have no one to share them with." 

He paused.

The boy didn't reply, but he sat back down next to Stella.

"So," she started, "what's your name?"

"I'm Knox," he told her.

"Have you ever read, Knox?" Stella asked him.

He scoffed. "I'm not an imbecile, of course, I've read," he responded.

Stella smiled, fond over his use of the word "imbecile". 

"I meant a book, a storybook, not like the ones they give us in Academy," she clarified. 

The boy looked hesitant to answer, so Stella reached into her bag to pull out her copy of Little Red Riding Hood. She tried to hand him the book, but he jumped away as if it would have burned him. 

"What the hell, are you crazy?" he asked, quickly looking around to make sure they were alone. "Put that away before someone sees you," he demanded. 

Stella simply laughed. 

He turned to look at her with wide eyes; as if she had grown two heads. 

"Just read it with me, Knox," she asked, but he still appeared reluctant. "Please?" she added. Her puppy dog eyes must have won him over because he huffed, and with one last glance around the park, he turned to look back at the book. She let him study the wolf on the cover before turning the first page. 

The teenagers enjoyed their time together so much that neither of them noticed the sun going down until the alarms blared, telling them they needed to be in their bunks. When Stella closed the unfinished book, Knox looked as if it physically pained him to leave. 

"Tomorrow?" Stella asked chuckling when Knox's scowl was replaced with a grin.

"Tomorrow" he confirmed.

... 

Both Stella and Knox met every day after Academy in the small park. Knox continued to feed the ducks, and Stella continued to bring new storybooks to read together. The pair proceeded to grow closer and closer until Knox grew the courage to try something new. 

"Stella?" he asked, causing her to pause her reading of Sleeping Beauty to look at him. Knox, of course, had already been staring at her while she read, but he liked it much better when he was able to look into her pretty brown eyes.

"Have you ever been kissed," he questioned, "like Aurora?" 

After this, he seemed to become self-conscious. He looked back into his lap and started fiddling with his fingers. 

"No," she answered, "I haven't. Have you?" 

"Of course not," he shook his head. 

"Would you like to try?" she asked surprisingly calm. 

Knox looked back down at Stella, the shock evident on his face. The boy began stuttering endlessly, coming up with excuses on why they shouldn't. 

Stella simply rolled her eyes and placed her hand on this side of his face, pressing her lips to his. Knox felt as if the wind had been knocked out of his chest by a wrecking ball, so it took a few moments before he responded. It was an awkward kiss—neither of them had any experience—but their eyes instinctively closed and the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves.

When they finally pulled away, Knox kept his eyes closed tightly. He no longer spoke in coherent sentences but instead was left stammering in phrases: "I felt the stars-" he pointed towards the sky, "I left- I wasn't here-". 

Stella gazed at him, adoring, but confused. 

Knox took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and tried again. "I wasn't here, in my body anymore," he attempted to explain pointing to his chest. "Well, I mean, I was here, obviously, but my head was with the stars," he continued with his eyebrows furrowed in thought, "It was so quiet up there—like the planets were sleeping. It was beautiful".

Stella giggled and grabbed his hands to keep them from flying around. He eventually opened his eyes and stared back at the beautiful girl in front of him. 

"Can we try again?" he asked, blushing. Stella nodded with a smile and placed his hands on her face. 

Their kiss lasted longer this time, and Knox brushed his thumbs across her cheeks. They ended up closing the storybook and using all of their time to explore each other's mouths. They listened to the sound of sleeping planets, but all too soon, the alarm blared, sending them back into their separate homes. 

That night, although multiple blocks apart, both Knox and Stella laid awake in their bunks and thought of the planets—wishing they could join them in their tranquil slumber.

...

The couple continued to meet at the bench day after day, but the storybooks made fewer appearances than before. Instead, they let their heads make trips up to the stars while their physical bodies explored the others'. 

If they weren't stealing touches and kisses hidden behind the trees, they were talking long into dusk about the smallest details of their lives. 

Knox told her about his dream of being assigned a gardener because of his love for creating something new. Stella told him about her dream of being assigned a nurturer because of her affinity for young children. Although Knox dreamt of having a boy and Stella dreamt of a girl, they spoke about their collective dream of raising children. 

They wondered if they would ever be allowed a pet to have in their home. Knox expressed his desire to own a puppy like the ones they read about in 101 Dalmations, while Stella wanted a kitten like the ones from Aristocats. 

They talked long into the night about everything and nothing until the alarm blared, forcing them to part until the next evening. Both fell into their beds that night dreaming of a life surrounded by the silence of the stars. 

... 

Soon enough, Stella shared the news with Knox about her pregnancy. 

"You're what?" He asked with excitement evident on his face.

Stella nodded with a smile on her lips and tears in her eyes, "I'm pregnant".

Knox wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, pressed his nose to the junction of her shoulder and neck, and laughed.

Unfortunately, after the initial excitement wore off, Knox began panicking about what the Occupation would say. 

"Stella, what if they take him?" he asked, clearly troubled.

"Him? How are you so sure the baby will be a boy?" Stella asked, raising her eyebrows. 

This momentarily distracted Knox, making him passionately explain to her why their child would most definitely take after his father. Stella watched him fondly, but she couldn't hide that she was also nervous about what the Occupation would say.

In accordance to Occupation Law, citizens must apply to the nurturing facilities in order to have a child. There were medical procedures that each parent must go through before they could conceive, and the Occupation allowing two seventeen-year olds to participate was awfully unlikely. 

Despite this, the couple spent the afternoon coming up with different names they could give to their son or daughter. Now, after they completed a new storybook, they worked together to hide it between the trees in hopes that their child would find them all one day. 

... 

Hiding the pregnancy in the early trimester was simple. Stella's Academy uniform was quite loose, therefore hiding her growing belly was no hassle. She was still able to meet Knox each afternoon and hide more stories in the trees. 

Unfortunately, however, the later months of her pregnancy did not pass as smoothly. After Academy, Stella gathered her things and planned to begin her walk to the park when one of her teachers pulled her aside. 

"Stella," they asked, "have you been feeling alright?"

Stella subconsciously crossed her hands over her stomach and assured the teacher she was fine. Nonetheless, the teacher requested that she go see the Academy's healer to be checked on. Stella, not wanting to raise suspicion, made her way to the healer's office instead of going directly to the park to meet Knox. 

As they went through the usual procedures—checking her vitals, reflexes, etc—Stella's baby bump became more apparent to the healer. 

"Stella, have you been lying with a man?" the healer asked her with disbelief.

If asked, Stella would have blamed her break in character on the pregnancy hormones. She began crying profusely, clutching the part of her uniform that covered her abdomen. 

"Please don't take my baby," she begged, but her pleas had no effect on the healer.

Almost as soon as the woman pressed the small red button on her desk, two men in long white coats entered the room. They each grabbed one of her arms and led her to the infirmary building. 

Despite the quiet tears that fell down her cheeks, Stella made no sound as the men dragged her away from the rest of her life. She bowed her head and sent silent prayers to the stars to protect her lover. Even if she couldn't live to become a Nurturer, she asked the stars to grant Knox the gardening position he dreamt of being assigned. 

They pulled her into an empty room with no windows that held a white bed in the center connected to numerous wires pouring out from the wall. They connected her to an IV and left the room, locking the door on their way out. 

Stella continued to sob, for she knew her baby no longer belonged to her. The Occupation would abduct the child and raise her within a society that prevented her from experiencing the world of emotion. Soon, it became too difficult to imagine, so Stella curled into the thin mattress and let an artificial sleep permanently possess her mind. 

... 

Meanwhile, Knox began to panic. For months, they had been meeting in the same park, at the same bench, at the same time. Where was Stella? The sun had already started falling behind the trees, staining the sky with an orange hue. 

He had given all of his food to the ducks and set aside pieces of his bread specifically for the ducklings that had trouble climbing onto the bank. He tapped his shoes relentlessly on the pavement and pulled at the collar of his uniform until late in the evening. Soon, his anxiety became too overwhelming and Knox left the park before the alarm sounded for the first time since he met Stella.

... 

Time passed, and Knox continued to linger around the park with no sign of his lover.. 

Every week or so, he would collect one of the storybooks they had hidden together and would breathe the words into the air and imagine he was reading to their daughter. She would be a few months old by now. At least, Knox chose to believe so, for he did not want to picture the alternative. 

The first day he started with The Little Red Riding Hood, just as Stella had with him. He tried to embody each character by giving them different comical voices. He even attempted to act out some of the scenes, growling at the wind as if he were the wolf and running between the trees as if he were the girl. 

However, when he reached Hansel and Gretel, his desolation had reached an all time low. Even after he was assigned his dream role as gardener, the stars never seemed to shine quite as brightly. He placed the book back into the hollow of the tree and began his walk home before the sun escaped behind the horizon. He had made his decision long before tonight, but he wished to read to his daughter one last time.

He had gathered the necessary materials that he had stolen from his Academy's construction department earlier in the day and headed for his bunk. His small stature forced him to stand on a stool in order to braid the cord around the fan. He prayed for Stella. He prayed for his daughter. Then it was quiet.

That night, the star's twinkling ceased, and the melody of the planets reached an interlude. For a moment, it felt as if the whole district grew silent.


	3. Marlowe

Marlowe flipped the last page of her parents' file closed and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. When she opened her eyes, she scowled at the front of the pages as they read: 

Stella Odette - 

UNASSIGNED; DECEASED

Knox Harper - 

GARDENER; DECEASED

It wasn't fair. They didn't deserve to have their lives locked in a vault inside the Reserve. Not only did the Occupation cheat the people out of their own lives, but they locked away their memory inside a box to collect dust. 

Just as she had begun to collect herself, Marlowe heard footsteps run down the once empty hallway outside the vault. Quickly, she placed the file back into its place within the cabinet and smoothed the stolen coat with her palms. She checked the room, making sure every file and machine was in its rightful place before walking out into the corridor. 

Everything seemed to be going according to plan—minus the tear streaks on her face—until an officer approached her, shocked to see her face wet. 

"Are you alright, Miss?" He asked with a monotone voice, "Did you miss your dose this morning?"

"I'm alright," she assured with a sniffle, "I'm actually headed to the infirmary now."

Marlowe hoped this would appease the officer, but he took one glance down at her appearance and didn't seem convinced. 

"How did you even get in here? You could be infecting others," He warned, taking a step back.

Marlowe internally scoffed. Of course, the man would be afraid. He believed standing too close to a woman crying would infect him with the fatal condition. Realizing she wouldn't be getting anywhere with her words, she started to calmly walk past the man.

The officer, however, had other plans. He grabbed her by the collar of the white coat to keep her from walking any further and began inspecting her marks. 

"You're a Nurturer! What the hell are you doing here?" He interrogated with a scowl. 

Suddenly, numerous other officers seemingly began to appear through the walls of the building, confining and suffocating Marlowe with their glares. An alarm began blaring throughout the hallway, and chaos began to unfold. Well, as chaotic as the Occupation could become. Workers began filing out of their rooms to form lines against the wall to have their marks inspected before they could return to work. 

Two officers roughly grabbed each of Marlowe's shoulders and began leading her out of the hallway and into a room she hadn't studied on the blueprints. She was pulled into a chair that reminded her of the ones from the clinic. Her wrists and ankles were strapped to the chair as a man with a surgical mask pulled a needle out of a briefcase. The officers were bustling around the room, but they somehow remained almost robotic in their movements, as if this was an everyday occurrence. 

Marlowe, however, looked to the sky and began to frantically pray to the only deity she knew. She begged the stars to grant her life. She pleaded with them to share her parents' story to the world in order to show them how dreadful, yet unbelievably marvelous it was to feel—even for a few moments.


End file.
